Caesar’s Civil War

Oct 15, 2004

Caesar’s Civil War
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon the Senate finally realized that they had made a terrible mistake. The mistake wasn?t in letting the situation get that far, but in that they believed the Roman and Italian people would rally to defend the Republican system. What they failed to understand was that the people had little trust in the Senate and that Caesar had won them over through his popular agenda while in political office. Caesar?s great propaganda campaign, his books ?Bellum Gallicum (the Gallic Wars)? endeared the people even more to their almost mythical hero, and the Senate?s cause in Italy was lost. Unable to levy armies, or develop a meaningful resistance, the Senate, and Pompey had little choice but to take their business out of Rome and into Greece. It was here, and further east, where Pompey held considerable sway, where the Senate hoped to raise armies and defeat Caesar…